The year was 1958, and a small, determined woman named Rita stared down the growing monster that was her once-loving husband's alcoholism. Sober, Bob was affectionate, a good dad, and a hard worker. When he began drinking, he would morph into someone unrecognizable, someone terrifying.

It wasn't that Rita and Bob hadn't tried. Goodness knows they both had. But time after time, the drink would win over, and the violence would increase, escalating until the day it all came crashing down once and for all.

Dutifully Catholic and thus told divorce is out of the question, and desperately devoted to her children, Rita embarks on a mission to break from the tradition of staying in an unsafe marriage and to save her family, even if it means breaking them apart for a while. It's a mission she is determined to accomplish, no matter the cost.

In Where Are All the Kids? author Teri Leonard Michaud lovingly and unflinchingly explores the dynamics of marriage, family, and addiction, in a time when women were rarely given the option to stand on their own. Making this book even more engaging is the fact that it is based on a true story-that of the author's own family.

Beautifully written, heart-wrenching, and ultimately redemptive, Where Are All the Kids? will restore your faith in the human spirit and remind you that there is no power quite like that of a mother's love.